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The number of Americans signing contracts to buy homes rose at a healthy pace in January, a sign that home sales are poised to accelerate after a slow start to the year. The National Association of Realtors said Friday that its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index increased 1.7% to 104.2 last month. December's figure was also revised higher to show a decline of only 1.5%, considerably better than an estimated drop of 3.7%. The index is now 8.4% above its level one year ago and is at the highest level since August 2013. The data point to a rebound in sales of existing homes in the coming months, particularly as the spring buying season gets underway. Measures of sales and...

Related "Freddie Mac" Articles

The number of Americans signing contracts to buy homes rose at a healthy pace in January, a sign that home sales are poised to accelerate after a slow start to the year.
The National Association of Realtors said Friday that its seasonally adjusted...

Mortgage rates climbed higher this week as lenders on average offered a 30-year fixed loan at 3.80%, up from 3.76% last week, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey.
Rates have now increased for three straight weeks after hitting a bottom for the...

A closely watched index that tracks mortgage credit availability — lender requirements on credit scores, down payments and other key loan terms — has some good news for potential home buyers: Things are finally loosening up.
After years of...

Mortgage rates edged higher for a second week, with Freddie Mac's weekly survey showing that lenders were offering conventional 30-year loans at an average 3.76%, up from 3.69% last week.
This year's low point came the first week of February, when...

California has delivered less than half of $2 billion in federal aid to help victims of the housing crash.
The fund, announced five years ago by the federal government, aimed to help homeowners in areas where home prices collapsed and unemployment...

Fixed mortgage interest rates fell this week to their lowest level in more than 20 months, with Freddie Mac reporting that lenders were offering conventional 30-year loans at an average of 3.59%, down from 3.66% a week ago.
The average rate for a 15-year...

Call them the prodigal millennials: Statistical measures and anecdotal reports suggest that young couples and singles in their late 20s and early 30s have begun making a belated entry into the home-buying market, pushed by mortgage rates in the mid-3%...

Fixed mortgage rates this week rose for the first time in 2015, with Freddie Mac’s widely watched survey pegging the 30-year conventional rate at 3.66%, up from 3.63% last week.
The average rate for a 15-year fixed home loan was 2.98%, up from 2.93%....

The national home ownership rate fell last quarter to the lowest level in two decades, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday.
Despite the housing recovery of the last few years, the ownership rate has been on a steady decline since the housing boom last...

Mortgage rates keep falling, and that has borrowers rushing to close a deal.
Applications for home loans soared 49% for the week ended Jan. 9, according to the Mortgage Bankers Assn., the largest pop since 2008. The jump from a week earlier came from a...

Mortgage rates declined for the third straight week, with lenders on average offering 3.63% on a 30-year fixed loan, Freddie Mac reported Thursday.
The mortgage finance giant said that this week's rate for a 30-year mortgage fell from 3.66% last week and...

If you saw the recent White House announcement of lower insurance payments on Federal Housing Administration home mortgages, you might have wondered: Does this matter to me as a potential home buyer or refinancer? Who specifically will benefit from the...

WASHINGTON — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell for the third straight week, with the benchmark 30-year rate again marking its lowest level since May 2013. The average for a 15-year mortgage, a popular choice for people who are refinancing, dipped...

Average U.S. long-term mortgage rates edged higher this week after four weeks of declines, but they remained at historically low levels that could entice potential homebuyers. Mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday that the nationwide average for a...

After a furious run-up in home prices in 2013, the Southern California housing market flattened out this year — setting the stage for slow but steady growth next year.
The 2015 housing market could be downright normal by the roller-coaster standards of...

Former Countrywide Financial Corp. executive Edward O'Donnell will get $57 million for his part in bringing a whistle-blower lawsuit against Bank of America Corp. that helped the U.S. force the lender to pay almost $16.7 billion to settle mortgage fraud...

Mortgage rates have hit a fresh low for the year.
The average for a 30-year fixed loan fell to 3.80% this week, down from 3.93% a week earlier, mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday. Lenders, meanwhile, offered a 15-year fixed mortgage at 3.09%,...

Fixed mortgage rates ticked up this week but remain near lows for the year, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of lenders.
The average rate for a 30-year loan hit 3.83%, up from its 2014 low of 3.8% last week, the mortgage finance giant said...

Closing out a year of surprisingly low mortgage interest rates, the average rate for a conventional 30-year home loan was 3.87% this week, Freddie Mac said, up slightly from 3.83% a week ago.
The home-financing giant reported that the 30-year rate...

Housing economists were nearly unanimous a year ago: U.S. mortgage rates would rise in 2014 because the Federal Reserve was unwinding a key economic stimulus that had helped keep long-term interest rates low.
But as the year passed, the Fed's pull-back...